143 Free (2/2)

”So...what is it?”

The Overseer sighed. He opened his palm towards me,

”I came here to congratulate you for killing Yawm. Schema took a chance with you, and it paid off in spades.”

I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms, ”Yeah, he sure did.”

An awkward silence passed over us before the Overseer looked away,

”I...I also want to apologize for my accusations earlier.” He looked back at me,

”I assumed you fell to Yawm's words like all the others before you. I was wrong. Schema was right to trust in you. I shouldn’t have exiled you. You destroyed Yawm despite the difficulty I placed you in. For that, you've garnered loyalty. Not just from Schema, but from me as well.”

I uncrossed my arms, ”Hmmm...Thank you. I can accept that. As for the loyalty bit, did you mean these quests?”

The Overseer nodded, ”They allow you to expunge your unknown status, your high bounty, and to gain sentinel rights as agreed.”

I scratched my head, ”Are they challenging quests?”

He laughed, his electronic voice echoing through the world tree,

”They mirror the difficulty and risk involved with giving you freedom. Do not forget, you're obligated by a contract written in the cipher. You are Schema's enemy, yet he offers you freedom. That is generous, and that is kind. For Schema, especially so.”

I nodded, ”I almost forgot about that contract. Is there any way to break it?”

The Overseer shook his head, ”If there is, it isn't known to us.”

”Shit...alright then.” I weighed my hands back and forth, “I guess Schema won't just let me stroll in to handle a casual bug fix or something?”

The Overseer laid a palm over his face, ”Actually, no.”

I snapped my fingers, ”Oh really? Damn. Who'd have guessed.” I raised an eyebrow, ”For real though, are there any leads for canceling the contract?”

The Overseer shrugged, ”Perhaps Etorhma will rewrite it for you. He is no doubt grateful to you for killing Yawm.”

I grimaced, ”Yeah, I want to steer clear of the Old Ones. I saw what they did to Yawm.”

”Wise.” The Overseer raised a hand towards me, opening a red screen,

”Now that my personal reasons for visiting are finished let's proceed with business.”

Several black screens appeared in front of me. Their text was white, like the dark layout option on a website. I peered at them as the Overseer continued,

”These are the quests mentioned earlier. Within them are three separate tasks you may accomplish at your leisure. There are no time restrictions, and you are free to go about as you please.”

The Overseer turned towards his portal, ”Along with them is an offer should you complete them all.” Before he stepped through, he stared at me,

”Daniel.”

I looked up from the quests, closing them for now.

”What is it?”

The Overseer opened a dimensional storage portal beside him. He pulled out a vial full of black sludge. He tossed it towards me. I caught it with gravity, having it spin in the air.

”Within the glass is a mountain of eldritch energy. Your armor will no doubt enjoy the feast. That is my thanks for killing Yawm. He was my enemy. The enemy of my enemy is a friend.”

I raised a hand, “I have a question. Why are you an Overseer? What makes you want to be one?”

The Overseer looked off into the distance, “That is a strange question. My race benefits from having an Overseer in their ranks. Schema offers advantages to us for it.”

“Oh...ok, cool.” I gave him a polite nod, “Good luck with...”

I had no idea what Overseers did.

”Uh, things.”

The Overseer laughed, ”We Overseer's handle administrative duties. Diligence is all that is required.”

He stepped through the portal, ”Good luck and goodbye, Harbinger.”

He disappeared, leaving nothing behind. I looked at the vial of eldritch mana. It wasn't smoke anymore. It was like the ichor of some evil god. Well, either that or tar.

Eldritch Concentrate - This vial contains the remnants of eldritch energy. An inordinate amount is stored here from the cleansed worlds of a Fringe Walker.

Cool. It was a vial of eldritch from a fringe walking badass. I wrapped my armor around. I crushed the jar, spilling out the eldritch energy. An icy sensation raced out from the smashed glass. The cold reached far out, like jumping into an ice bath.

As it faded, I shook my head. I jittered a bit, the vial like a shot of adrenaline. I calmed myself down and opened my status. I looked at my condition. In a nutshell, my condition was pretty damn good.

Level 5,443

Strength – 4,617 | Constitution – 7,845 | Endurance – 34,018

Dexterity – 1,926 | Willpower – 16,976 | Intelligence – 6,315

Charisma – 653 | Luck – 2,130 | Perception – 772

Health: 4.87 Million/4.87 Million | Health Regen: 9.1 Million/min or 151,980/sec

Stamina: 3.01 Million/ 3.01 Million | Stamina Regen: 46,336/sec

Living Dimension: 1.01 Trillion/4.30 Trillion

Mass: 360,805 pounds(169,411 kilos~) | Height: 11'7(3.55 meters)

Damage Res - 98.5% | Dimensional Res - 49.25%

Phys Dam Bonus – 244,513% | Damage Bonus – 40%

Event Horizon – 20,000 + (100% of your total health)/min

My health regen tripled. It was higher than when Amara and the beetles swarmed around me. Much higher. My physical damage, mass, and health over doubled. Even with those boons, the most surprising thing was my progress with my armor.

Even after all the mana left in Yawm plus the vial from the overseer, I still wasn't even a quarter the way to my evolution. That much mana was unbelievable. I bet there wasn't even enough eldritch mana on Earth for my armor's development. It was that insane.

I didn't need the evolution anytime soon though. My healing was already ridiculous. Whatever else my armor gave me wasn't really necessary. The bonuses would come eventually.

With that in mind, I reopened the quests the Overseer gave me. I scrutinized them this time instead of giving them a glance.

Planetary Cleanser(Quest | A+ Tier) - There are worlds on the brink. You can save them given your unique abilities.

Create a beachhead on three different fringe worlds. These worlds must be high priority worlds. (Worlds of B tier or higher grade of importance.)

Rewards: Unlocks Fringe Walker class. Territory granted on saved worlds.

This one seemed interesting. From what I researched, Fringe Walkers had enhanced regeneration, great aoe abilities, and were anti-eldritch all around. It made sense that Schema was giving me a way of becoming one. My build was perfect for it.

Ambassador of Earth(Quest | Tier B+) - Earth needs an ambassador. As the highest leveled native species on Earth, this task falls onto your shoulders.

Establish contact with The Empire, the steel legion, and the nearest world within Schema's system, Gliese 667.

Once contact is established, create favorable or at least neutral alliances with these groups. To accomplish this, it's recommended that embassies be built on both sides. Trading relations, cultural adjustments, and educational programs may assist with this mission.

Rewards: Elimination of unknown status for you and any participating party members. Guild rights expanded towards factions that are befriended.

Creating a beachhead on an alien world was simple. Fostering good relations with aliens...Well, that was complicated. It sounded fun anyway. Seeing otherworldly capitals and cities would be exhilarating. Who knows, maybe we could even get Torix a girlfriend.

Cutting Open the Belly of the Beast(Quest | Tier B+) - To prove your lawfulness, you must enact the law.

Destroy an unauthorized organization that actively acts against Schema's tenants. This organization must be tier B or higher. Destroy in this instance means to neutralize the leader and organizational bodies leading the movement or group.

Rewards: Pardoning of all previous offenses against Schema, eliminating your current A- Tier bounty.

Damn. I had an A- tier bounty. To my knowledge, that's a high as hell bounty. Considering the contract, it wasn't so bad I suppose. The quest appeared reasonable as well.

I eliminate an A tier bounty for getting rid of a B tier organization.I'd need to get a better idea of the scale of things from Torix first.

The Status of a Sentinel(Quest | Tier A+) - By killing a great evil, you've earned the right to ascend. Find the spear and armor of a fallen sentinel and return it to Schema.

Rewards: Status updated from sentient to a sentinel. You obtain the benefits of being a sentinel, but you lack their responsibilities.

Requirements: Finish the questline Ambassador of Earth.

After reading through all these quests, I needed to research what 'rights' a sentinel had. I might never figure out unless I find a forum or something about it. Considering it was a reward by Schema, there was probably official posts on it.

Once I figured them out, I'd be able to make an informed decision. As I finished reading the last quest, I closed my status. I walked up towards the edge of the world tree. The bark held firm. I lifted my hands, creating a condensed well of gravity above me.

I and a cloud of dust floated up. As I floated up, I skimmed over the quests again. The quest that stuck out was the Ambassador of Earth one. It would unlock the unknown status of everybody, not just me. The other ones helped only me.

Considering I wanted some company on my next quest, it suited my goals. Of course, walking up to another planet with a bounty wasn't optimal either. Considering we killed Yawm, I doubt they'd attack us as a group. Either way, we might be able to take out two birds with one stone.

My primary focus would be getting back to base for now though. I reached the clear bark of earlier. It remained after the goop inside drained, like a wall of glass.

Looking out of it, I found Amara and Althea where I left them. The hole Imade healed even as I drained the tree. That's why Amara was still able to sleep. The sound of my mana or the overseer would've leaked out otherwise, waking her up.

Althea guarded Amara. Althea made the eldritch a bed of broken branches. After that, she cleaned her to some extent then set her on a bed of torn branches. At that moment, Althea trained with the Viral Menace. She poured sweat, enjoying the new blade.

I tapped the glass, interrupting her. She brandished the blade at me, narrowing her eyes. As they locked with mine, she smiled. She walked up and cut through the glass with the knife. It sliced in with absolute ease, no effort required whatsoever.

She placed her palm on the glass circle, the panel sticking to her. She tossed it aside, the circular glass whizzing through the air. Seconds later and it splashed in the lake beneath us.

I pulled myself out of the tree, hovering through it. Althea propped out a hip, leaning on one leg,

”Getting fancy now?”

I rolled my eyes, ”I've gotten a bit better at magic. That's all.”

As I landed beside her, she looked up at me. I dwarfed her.

”You're like...a foot taller now. Wow.”

I leaned down while lifting her chin, ”Is that a problem?”

She shook her head, ”Nope. Not yet.”

She grew bat wings, flapping them. She maintained a few feet up off the ground, matching my eyesight. I grabbed her hip, putting her on my shoulders. I walked over, lifting Amara with a gravity well. I turned up to Althea,

”You ready to get back to base?”

She nodded, ”Yes please.”

I smiled wide, ”Which way?”

Althea pointed. I gave her a quick salute, ”Aye aye. I have two things left to do before we're off.”

I glanced down. I floated myself up by burning some mana. As I did, I looked behind me. The world tree stood on its last legs. The shell of the bark withstood the wind, but it was like swiss cheese; hole littered it everywhere.

I charged mana into me. After floating away for a reasonable distance, I discharged a massive burst of mana. A wave of gravitational force rippled across the landscape, bending trees with ease. The shell of bark crumbled under the wake of the magic.

This caused a chain reaction, the barren branches of the tree following suit.A wave of dust and ash echoed the collapse. As the plume of brown dust dissipated, the derelict remains of Springfield stood covered in the powder of the world tree. It looked like fresh earth, ready for life to grow out of.

A notification ran into my status. I read it. Keeja died. I bit my lip, a hint of disgust rushing up from my gut. The poor man was at the brink of being consumed by eldritch. For him, living was torment. Dying was mercy, though I didn't feel good about it.

I sighed, turning towards Ajax. He remained in stasis, his green sphere still stuck inside a skyscraper. I floated towards him and picked him up with another field of gravity.

After that, I looked where Althea pointed. It was finally time to move on from where I was born. An eager, almost childish grin ran up and down my lips. A fire was burning in my chest. I clasped my fists, ready and waiting.

For the first time since Schema took over, I wasn't just struggling for survival. I could do whatever I wanted. No more big bad looming over my shoulder, threatening my life.

For once, I was the master of my fate and the captain of my soul.

I was free.